Printing just got more reliable and more versatile

The new ShopKeep POS app is now live in the App Store! We’ve introduced a range of great new features, so if you haven’t already, get yourself in front of your iPad and download the latest version of the ShopKeep POS App. For a quick overview of what’s new, you can check out this video.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It’s important to update the App only when you are physically in your store! We have changed how ticket printing is setup (more details below) and our auto-migration of your previous details will only work if you are able to connect to your remote printer(s) during the update.

To help you make the most of our new features we have written up a couple of posts that outline some of the key benefits. This post covers updates to Receipt and Ticket Printing.

So, What’s New With Printing?

Printer Reliability:

We know how frustrating it can be when your printer stops working. So, the core of our effort to improve printing has been focused on increasing reliability.

To this end we have introduced a fundamental change in how your printers connect to your iPad POS. Each printer is now identified and connected to the iPad using a static unique identifier (MAC Address), rather than a network address which can change and ‘drop’ the connection. As a result, you can expect to enjoy a faster and significantly more stable connection from now on!

But wait, there’s more…

  1. In the event that there is any problem with your printer you will now also get clear, actionable error messages.  The system will tell you exactly why printing failed on a particular printer, so you know whether to add paper or close the lid.
  2. You can now designate a ‘fallback’ printer so, if for whatever reason, your receipt or ticket fails to print, there is a designated alternative printer where it can be printed instead.

 

Printer Functionality:

We have also changed and improved your ability to manage and utilize multiple remote printers. The update will ‘migrate’ your current ticket printer settings from your App to your Back Office, from where you will now be able to manage all your remote printers.

This functionality includes:

  1. Multiple Printers can now be given easy-to-remember names in the Back Office, e.g. ‘Kitchen’, ‘Bar’, ‘Sandwich Station’.
  2. Tickets can be printed to these multiple stations, e.g. food orders to ‘kitchen’, drink orders to ‘bar’. You can use your BackOffice to easily define which items should go to which printer.
  3. You can now also use the same printer to print both receipts and order tickets – a big win for small cafes/food trucks.
  4. You can now print kitchen tickets to incredibly quiet thermal printers. This should be a great solution for cafes, ice cream bars or anywhere the printer won’t be likely to overheat.
  5. You can now print receipts to bluetooth printers.

 

New Hardware:

As part of this update we are introducing support for two new printer options.

STAR MICRONICS 650II Thermal Printer – Ethernet

This beautiful monster is the Ferrari of the receipt printing world. It prints both receipts and tickets more than three times faster than the previous model, meaning you can get through that line quicker than ever before. Perfect for Quick Serve Restaurants and other high transaction volume environments.

SM-T300i 3 Wireless Thermal Printer – Bluetooth

Small, rugged and completely reliable, this printer is a great solution for any retailer looking to operate without a complex Wi-Fi setup. Simply connect this bad boy via Bluetooth to your 4G-enabled iPad and you will be ready to take on the world. Perfect for food trucks and other mobile retailers.

 

Paul Nugent

Paul Nugent

Paul Nugent is a small business advocate who uses his background in the startup space, along with his POS system expertise, to allow small business owners to make informed decisions within their specific budgets.